A shadow as old as the ages crept out of the darkness Saturday in Pittsburgh and claimed the lives of 11 people on their holy Sabbath Day.
The evil shadow put a firearm into the hands of an anti-Semite who lived in a dark place and had one thought, “All Jews must die.”
Robert Bowers, 46 years old, has been identified as the shooter. He reportedly did not have a criminal history and apparently was not on anyone’s radar as a potential threat.
With a semi-automatic rifle and several handguns, he killed 11 people, most of them elderly, and wounded four police officers who responded to the 9-1-1 call.
The 11 victims were attending Jewish Sabbath Day services at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.
A husband and wife, two brothers and a 97 year-old lady were among the victims.
There was a day and time when those attending church services always felt safe. Even personal and family arguments were placed on hold until after and away from church.
As children we were told that Church was the safest place to be under any circumstance. Unfortunately, we have seen that change over the past several decades where shootings have occurred in several Christian churches around the country.
For the Jews, world history is a story of hatred by various people against the Jewish race. The Bible’s Old Testament and New Testament document the historical data over thousands of years even which continues to this day around the world.
America has long been a refuge for the Jewish people, as well as for people of all religions who come here to live and worship as they please and in peace with other denominations.
This week the Wall Street Journal pointed out, “In America the most stalwart supporters of Israel are evangelical Christians and orthodox Catholics. Perhaps this is because as people of faith themselves, they know what it is like to be mocked and shunned in a popular culture that is increasingly secular, often aggressively so.”
And, this may be part of where the problem lies. The movement toward secularism in our country has moved many away from religious beliefs, worship and simply out of contact with God.
America hasn’t changed. The U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights haven’t changed. People have changed.
God is no longer in our school hallways or in our classrooms. The courts have sequestered God and the 10 Commandments from our public institutions and pathways.
Our prayers of gratitude and asking for forgiveness are no longer an important part of our day or a segment of society.
Our government has even restricted our chaplains in the military with policy on sermons and prayers. We live in perilous times. God is absent from much of our day and the activities we pursue.
Instead of being directed by biblical knowledge and moral principles, we go daily into a world of spiritual apathy, hatred, a world of violence, political correctness and sexuality.
Rev. Mirta Signorelli says we have “…expelled God from our American society … (and) we have reached a crisis in our nation.”
As an example, Signorelli recalled what happened when President Barack Obama gave a speech at Georgetown University, which is a Catholic University. “His people requested that all visible symbols of the faith be covered up.”
The reverend accused the university of being politically correct and denying the God the school professed to serve.
There is something terribly wrong in our culture and society; it won’t be fixed by pointing fingers or calling for gun control.
But enough is enough!
The hate and the accompanying threats and violence being projected by our society and our political parties are affecting all aspects of our lives.
A friend of mine who just back from Afghanistan said it best.
“Both parties have a few severely and mentally deranged radicals who, if given enough “reasons” or perceived grievances, will go so far past civility that they actually will commit a criminal act and believe that they will never be caught and/or prosecuted for a crime.”
Therein lies a deep root of the criminal actions we have experienced over the past several years.
There isn’t anything wrong with America as a country.
The problem is with our people.
What’s wrong is the fact we have placed our spiritual and moral guidance systems on a shelf in the closet and replaced them with secular political correctness and a compass that doesn’t work.
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Jimmy Terrell is retired from a career in law enforcement and is a Winder city councilman. He can be reached at ejterrell65@gmail.com.

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